Rune Wings
by Nim Jackbee
Summary: It takes place years after Valentine's death, where a group of kids are living on the streets of New York City. Their leader- of sorts- has quite a few secrets, not all of them ones that she knows of. And things get worse when she runs into Caleb.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The sirens wailed at me as I ran down the sidewalk. My feet made a slapping sound each time they hit the hard concrete. I had to get away or I was done for. I spotted an alley not far ahead and dove for it. I could see the street it cut across to and had almost made it when- Wham! I ran into someone and nearly fell over. The police were almost on top of us. I grabbed whoever it was and drug them into a sheltered doorway.

I peered over at the human roadblock and my eyebrows involuntarily shot up. He had golden hair and peircing green eyes- and he was staring right back at me. I could have punched his lights out.

The patrol car sped right past the alley and I jumped down from the step in the doorway. The boy just kept staring at me.

"What?," I said, irritated.

"Why were you running from the cops?"

I just shook my head and started walking back towards the busy street of Manhattan.

"You never answered my question," he told me. I shrugged and brushed back some burgandy hairs that had escaped from my braid. I heard quick footsteps. Lots of them. I turned and saw my little band of misfits running towards me, safe and sound.

"Danny, come on!," Blaire shouted. He was my second in command, I guess you could say. With one last look towards the blonde kid, I jogged over to my semi-family and we ran off to our hideaway for that day.

I should explain more of our predicament. You see, we're street kids. We do what we can to survive. It's been that way for years. After I ran away from te horror that was my life, I met Blaire. He was in rehab for drug abuse. I sprung him from the place and we hid together. I was thirteen at the time and had only been on the streets for a year. Then , we met Pip. We're still not sure what's with her. All we know is that her parents were wealthy and thought Pip was actually insane. They were going to send her to an asylum, seeing as they were high placed in the towns social standings and didn't want to deal with the embarassment of having a crazy daughter. She ran away and joined up with me and Blaire.

Tommy was a different case from the rest of us. His parents would beat him. Punch him, dig their ciggarettes into his skin. I hated seeing that and convinced him to come with us. I was fouteen by that time. So was Blair. Tommy was thirteen and Pip was twelve. But, the saddest story out of my family was Nadia. Her mother had died when she was ten. Her father hadn't handled the loss well. He… abused Nadia. It had gone on for a year when for two years when I'd found her. I can't say I was sorry for what I did to that man. Knocked him clean out and maybe had broken a few of his ribs.

Nadia had been unresponsive to anyone. She didn't talk, just ate, breathed, and sleeped. It took us a while to even get a name out of her. But, she started warming up to the gang after that and has been our little ball of sunshine ever since. Three years have passed since then. Me and Blaire are seventeen. Tommy's sixteen and Nadia and Pip are fifteen. We still live on the streets- sort of. Last week, an elderly woman- Nora- let us stay with her. The others are happy here, having an actual roof over their heads. Nora wouldn't hear of us leaving and insisted we stay. She also has us call her Granny. For some reason, it just seemed more right. So, the days stretch on.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Everyone in the house was asleep. Except for me. I layed on my back staring up at the ceiling. The sounds of cars going by was neverending and I watched the lights from their headlights flash across the walls. Blaire was snoring loudly from the living room where he and Tommy insisted they sleep. Pip had made the attic her room- the crazy mexican. I smiled and peered over where Nadia was curled up on the far side of the King sized bed. She always slept in the same room as me. When we asked her why, she just said that I keep the shadows away. I knew what she meant and no one ever questioned her again.

With a sigh, I got out of bed, being careful not to jostle Nadia. She seemed like a shadow herself, what with her dark african skin. I stared stubbornly down at my own drastically white arm. Damn my inability to get a tan. For some reason it just didn't work for me. All I get from trying is a really nasty sunburn.

The whole sleep thing wasn't working tonight. I heard a reassuring snort from the other end of the house that the rest of my gang were having peaceful dreams. Rubbing my head, I tried not to think about just why I never slept. Flashes of my usual nightmares krept into my mind. The shot of a gun. The burning red of fire.

I shivered and tried to remember where I last put my shoes. I found them by the door to the street, covered in New York sludge. They seemed home-y to me. Putting them on, I trudged out the door, silent as ever. They never caught me when I snuck out. They only found out that I'd left when I walk through the door at sunrise, or don't come back till the next night. Depends on how I'm feeling.

The cool night air breezed against my skin as my head filled with the sights and sounds of the dark-time city. I walked down the side of the street, searching for something-anything- to keep my mind from going back to those nightmares. Those memories.

A NYPD patrol car slid down the roud and I ducked into the nearest alley. My face was plastered on quite a few wanted ads, and not just the ones for fellonies, though running from the cops was something me and my mottly crew did on a regular bases. We're street rats, remember?

When the po-po was gone I stepped back into the pool of orange that the streetlight cast, my toe landing in a puddle. Not caring what exactly that puddle was made out of, I hurried off. After a half-hour of walking I finally came to the East River. Though it didn't smell good, it was the only expanse of wide-open-ness that I could find close by. Trouble is, I didn't usually expect to have to kick someones ass.

The two men were struggling a few yards down the boardwalk. The one guy was getting beat to a pulp by the tall dark one.

"Help! Please! Someone, HELP!"

And that was when I started running. Now you might think I'm crazy, me a seventeen year old _girl_ taking on some big scary guy that's beating the hell out of some person screaming for help. Well, I'm not like most seventeen year old girls. I am so much more than that.

My foot connected with Creepy Guy's head after a running jump. Roundhouse kick to the face; score 1 for me. I do believe Chuck Norris would be proud. The little dude run off while Big And Scary was distracted and didn't turn back for so much as a 'Thanks'. But, I didn't care then. Creepy had jerked his head around to look at me. And I forced back a scream when I stared into his blood-red eyes. It wasn't human.

With a snarl, it came at me and I defended myself, blow for blow. This thing was strong! But so was I. I got in at him, taking an uppercut jab at his rib-cage. It should have shattered some bones, but he barely even flinched. All it had seemed to do was piss him off. He punched me in the face, a movement too fast for me to do anything about. The whole left side of my head burned and my lip was already bleeding.

I grapped for y switch-blade and pulled the knife out. I distracted him and went in for a get-em-or-get-you. I managed stab him in the back but got another blow, this one on my shoulder. Caught off guard, I went under a barrage of attacks. I couldn't fend him off and went down. It hissed in my ear, whispering, "To kill, to eat, to drink…"

With a horror set deep in my stomache, I realized I was going to die. The monster leaned in, claws extended to tear out my life.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was over. Everything I'd done to survive was for nothing. It smiled at me, cruel and mocking with dripping fangs. Even now I didn't scream; it just wasn't me.

I heard a wet slipping sound, and both me and the monster glanced down at his chest. A brilliantly glowing sword- thing was sticking out of his body. With a pained twist in it's face, the thing was ripped off of me and thrown five feet away. I stared at it, not believing that I was actually going to live. Then, I felt the huge headache that I had and saw the blood dripping off of me. Well shit! I was screwed either way!

The thing started towards me again, but only to have another shining blade run through him. My vision was getting blurry and I could barely see the man who had saved me. He had gold hair and watched grim-faced as the monster seemed to fold in on itself until it disappeared altogether.

The gold dude turned back towards me and my mind froze. He was the boy from the alleyway! The human roadblock. And, much as I hate to admit it due to my street rep, I passed out.

_There was so much fire! I had to get to them! My heart punded as I leapt out of bed and rushed towards the door. But, I didn't make it. I heard a boom and was flung back across my room. Much as I'd like to hit the wall, I went through the window instead. For one quite moment I was falling-flying. The tinkling shards of glass looked like hard, frozen rain. But, when I landed, they didin't feel like rain. Stabbing pain errupted throughout my body._

I jolted awakeand was rewarded with a sickining naeseau that centered from my head. I glanced around and realized I was sitting in my bed at Granny's. Had all of last night been a dream? I rubbed my head and felt the rough cloth of bandages. That woke me up. I jumped out of the covers and ran over to the big mirror over the dresser. I looked like crap. Covered in bruises, cuts everywhere, and a bled-through wrap around my head.

"Damn it!"

I heard thudding footsteps as people hurried to the room after hearing me shout. Great. Now I was gonna have to explain what happened. Grumbling under my breath, I opened the door before anyone could open it. Glaring at them, I glanced around the rest of the house. I felt my scrutiny get colder as my gaze settled on the one thing that didn't belong here. The golden haired boy. He gave me a cocky smile and waved.

I was about to walk over there and punch that stupid grin off his face when my head started to spin. Changing direction, I ran to the bathroom and puked my guts out. Blaise was there, holding my hair back while I tossed my cookies. Tossed my cookies? Why do people even say that? It makes no sense.

Nadia looked at me with worried glances while I rinsed my mouth and sat down in the kitchen. In fact, all of them kept watching me like I was about to drop dead any second now. Instead of fidgeting under their big doe eyes, I glared at the gold dude and asked him, "So, what exactly are you doing here…?"

I let my sentence flail off, baiting him to tell me his name.

"Caleb," he said, green eyes staring intently at me. Sucking up my shattered dignity, I held out my hand and he shook it

"Danny."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It had been three weeks since my little mishap. We were still at Granny's. It was starting to seem like we'd never leave. I sighed as I soaked up the last rays of the sun and stood. Looking down at the people from the high rooftop, they looked like ants.

I hardly ever stayed at Granny's now. I'd spent so many years going from place to place, being there for so long was making me edgy. The others were worrying about me, I knew. And they knew I'd be leaving. For good. I was planning on making that anouncement tonight when everybody was home.

Can you keep a secret? It's something no one else knows about. Kay? Alright, here goes: I have wings. Not like birds' and I can't go to the beach or anything. This is harder to explain than I thought. OK. So, whew. It's like I can shed and regrow my wings whenever I want to. But, when my wings aren't there, I have these tattoos of them on my back that disappear when I regrow them. So, basically the tattoos are my real wings, I can just pick and choose when I want them to be made out of flesh and blood. Get it?

I shrugged off my jacket and let my wings slip out of the slits I'd cut into my T-shirt. Flinging myself off the roof, I wanted to laugh when the wind rushed over my feathers. But, that would draw attention and that would be bad. I counted myself lucky enough that no one had spotted me yet. Peole just didn't look up anymore.

Dropping behind Granny's little house, I put my jacket back on and walked through the door. Pip and Nadia ran over to hug me, and the smell of dinner wafted under my nose. Mouth watering, I slipped into the kitchen, trying not to be noticed by Blaire or Tommy.

"Danny guess what? You'll never believe it! Yesterday, Granny said she was going to adopt us!," Nadia squeeled from her chair. I smiled and Granny came over to hug me too. Blaire just stood in the corner and stared at me. He knew what this meant and I would bet Granny did too. She dished out some mac n' cheese with chicken and we all crowded around the table. While the sound of scraping forks and chewing went on, I decided to tell them.

"I'm leaving," I said and stuffed another spoonfull of macorroni in my mouth before they could demand an explanation. There was only silence as they all looked at me. They'd known; all of them.

"When are we going?," Nadia asked.

"Not we. Me. You guys are staying here. Getting an education, stuff like that," I said, trailing off when I saw their faces. Nadia looked about ready to cry. I sighed and tried one last act of desperation. The thing anyone expects to here when their parents get divorced or daddy walks out with his suitcase packed.

"I'll come visit," I said. "Promise."

Blaire shoved his chair back and stalked off. We all flinched when the door slammed and shook the whole house.

"Are you quite sure, honey?," Granny asked me. I nodded and said, "I'm leaving in the morning."

That night, Nadia _and _Pip squeezed into the little bed, but Tommy followed Blaire and decided to ignore me too. I was expecting this but it still hurt. I didn't get a wink of sleep and picked up my backpack. Staring at the thing, I remembered all that I'd gont through with it. I'd grabbed it from the side of the street where some kid had left it and it was streaked with all the grime and mud of New York City.

The goodbyes were sad and some tears were shed. In the end, Tommy forgot about Blaise's lead of giving me the cold shoulder and hugged me hard.

"You guys really don't need me anymore," I told them. "I taught you had to take care of yourselves and I believe you can. With some help from Granny." I grinned at the old woman and she gave me a teary smile back. I waved and set off down the street. Without me, there was nothing tying them to the streets. Without me, they could move on.


End file.
